Alfalfa harvester



- March l, 1949. E c, SMALL Y ALFALFA HARVESTER Filed May 12, i947 INVENTORw mUH vw,lamented Mardi, 1949 HARVESTERv Elmerjcf. small, N'oaesha; Kans., assignor to W'.' J. Small-Company, Incl, Neo'desha, Kans.'`

Application May'12, 1947;'r-SerialvNo. 747,536

'fhisinventionrelates Lgerierall'ytov farm implements' and morespecically to `harvesters particularly adapted forfhandling alfalfa hay in the eld:

I-eretofore alfalfa hay hasfbeen harvested in manyA different ways, one off which constitutes cuttingrthe-samein the i'leld, elevating the cut hay into-a -truclcor other transportation meansl'hauling-the same toa mill? andl'aboriously pitching the same into a.l cutter with pitchforks. Obviously this methodl has many disadvantages from the standpoint of work involved as Well as time consumed.

The: primary. object of this invention, there` freg.isto` provide arr implement for simplifying the harvesting` ofl alfalfa1 or other` types of hay the'A provisimv ofil al rotatable pickup mechanism fnreceivingrthe cut-hayand directing the same intoa beater priorvv to elevation oflthe hay into al truck ora` other." vehicle,

The most important object of' this invention isvv to= provide a harvester having'v a rotatable spikedA pickup drum disposed adjacent tov the sickle barand' a rotatable beater assembly" for receiving the hay. from the drum'- and directing thesarne against the innermost face ofone wall cita-hollow body or housing.

Another' important object" ofl this invention is tol provide in a harvester having" the aforesaid pickup drum andbeater' assembly, a conveyor in the housing` for'movingthe' chopped hay toward one endl4 of the housing'where thesarne maybe elevated into a truck or the like; which' conveyor isi= disposed relative to the beater` assembly''to receive the hay only' after" the same'` has been dirctedl against one wall of the housing.

still'v further? object ofL this invention isto provide-a harvester having. a rotatable pickup drum and a curved scoop associated therewith and underlying' the drium tocooperatev with-the latteri'n directing-A the' out hay tangentially into beater' assembly; l

Another object of'V this inventionv is to2y provide al harvester havin-g a beater assembly in the form ofa rotatable' reel provided with a plurality of vanesj: which assembly is disposed to receive' the hay from the drum and direct the same laterally and transverselyv across aA conveyor where the same strikes an inclined wall prior to movement uponthe conveyor'. l

A still further important object?y of this invention is to provide falharvester having` an assembly of parts formed by the aforesaid pickup drum, beater; assembly, inclined" housing wall and corr'- v'e'yor; all? arranged to eliminate any throwback of!" the?y material by obviatin'g" any possibility" of congestion from theI timev the' hay is out until the"same"reaclfiesthe` conveyor; l i

Another" object of this'invention is to provide a harvester having a rotatable spiked pickup 3? Claims; (Cl. Sii-2364i" drumso formed to furtherv eliminate congestion byprovidinga back"rake"in each of the spikes, to thev endthat hay is' held against the aforesaid curved'scoopinstead of clinging to the spikes.

Many'minor objeotswill be made clear or be'- come apparentduring the courseofthefollowing specification, reference being had to the ac# companying; drawing; wherein:

Fig.' 1 is a` fragmentary top'plan' View of a liarL vester made in accordance with my present invention', parts beingI` broken away for clearness, andi Fig'. 2 is anend elevational view'thereof.

The' implement about to be described includes many parts which form no' partof this invention and; therefore'g, the same" have not: been. shown These parts include the chassis meansV fori' ati tachment to the drawbar or a tractor or the like', structure forelevatingi the hayintoa' truckn or the like, as well. as details of construction with respect to connection ofthemovable' parts thereof with a suitable prime mover. This implement therefore, includes' a frame' broadly designated by the numeral- I0, whichldefines'a 'housing I2 liaving`"a sidewall I4, an end wall I6 and a top I8`. The frame I ll extends downwardly'as at 20 in` opposed relation to the wall I4 of housing I2 to present an open sidewithin which is rotatably mounted an" elongated beater' assembly broadly designated by the numeral' 23. Extending for W'ardl'y.l and' in spaced relation from the frameworkZAIl is a rotatable pickup drum 22 supported b-ylsuitable framework 24. V This drum 22 constitutes an" elongated* cylinder' and is supported' for rotation on a substantially' horizontal axis by frame 2A through the' medium of a` shaft 26. ,y

Anysuitable means for driving the shaft 26 and thereby/"the drum 22 may be provided, such as' by connection thereofwith thepowertakeoi of'the tractorwhich serves to transport the harvester over" the field of hay tobe cut. The opposite en'd" of this shaft ZGcarries av sprocket wheel 28 overxwhich passes a chain 30 to connect with a relatively` small sprocket 32, forming a part of thew beater' assembly 23. This beater assembly 23y includes a shaft 3l! journalled in spaced apart bearings" 36: carried by brackets' 38 extending rearwardly from4 'frame-members 24. Theshaft 2.6 fordrum 2 2 is'journa-lled-in spacedapartbearingsvlcar'ried by the frame.' members" 24 intermediate the ends thereof. The entireassembly includingv drum 22, beater assembly 23 and a scoop42 iscarried by the frame* Ithrough the mediumfof an arm 44, extending radially from a 'sliaft Il'6 This shaft' Mi is journalled within bearings aonframe I0 and the arm' M iswelded or otherwisekedthereto. y

T'l'ieoutermo'st free' endtof'ithearm fllias linkage- 5u2 depegg1-uingf` therefrom and joined to the framewrku: The; framememb'ers Mare' each slotted near the lowermost ends thereof to slidably receive an arm 52 which has one end thereof pivotally secured as at 54 to the members 28 of frame I0. n

It is clear from the foregoing that rotation of the shaft 46 through any medium not shown will swing the arm 44 to raise and lower the drum 22,

scoop 42 and cutter bar mechanism 56 to desired heights above the surface of the ground. The scoop 42 is co-extensive in length with the drum 22 and disposed in spaced underlying relationship therewith. This scoop 42 extends from the be made without departing from the spirit of the housing I2 near the lowermost end thereof `as shown in Fig. 2. The drum 22 is provided with a plurality of spikes 58 disposed in staggered relationship thro-ughout the entire outermost sur;- face of drum 22. These spikes 58 extend laterally outwardly lfrom drum 22 and terminate in a pointed end. Spikes 58 are V-shaped in cross section and one edge 66 thereof is inclined outwardly from the pointed end of spike 58, the inclination being forwardly and in the direction of rotation of the drum 22, which direction is indicated by an arrow in Fig. 2. As the drum 22`rotates, ,the spikes 58 serve to move the hay that is cut by the cutting mechanism 56 into the beater assembly 23. The specic design of these spikes 58 as above described presents a back rake which serves to hold the cutter material against the curved surface of scoop 42 and thus prevents clinging of such material to the drum 22 or tothe spikes 58 thereof.

, It has been founddesirable to rotate the drum 22 at a speed of approximately 350 revolutions per minute and the centrifugal force caused by such rotation of drum 22 plus the action of spikes 58 serves to throw the hay tangentially into the beater assembly 23, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2. The beater assembly 23 constitutes an addition to shaft 34, a reel secured to shaft 34 formed by a plurality of elongated blades 62. These blades or vanes 62 are spaced equally about the axis of shaft'34and are secured to a pair of end members 64 circumscribing shaft'34. This beater assembly 23 is caused to rotate in the direction indicated by an arrow shown in Fig. 2 through the medium ofthe chain connected with the drum 22. The beater `23 should rotate at a relatively high speed, preferably about 760 revolutions per minute. 23 causes a breaking or chopping up of the hay which passes from the drum 22 and this chopped hay is then projected in the direction of the arrows shown. in Fig. 2 against the wall VI4 of hous- Such fast rotation of beater ing I2. The lowermost end of this wall I4 is inclined, as at 66, toward a conveyor 68, which forms the bottom of housing I2 and underlies the direction of travel ofthe hay from beater 23 toward the wall I4. This conveyor 68 extends to a point beyond the innermost end of the beater 2,3.and the drum 22 to forward the chopped hay intoa blower (not shown) the housing of which is indicated by the numeral 10.

While the operation of the harvester has been made clear throughout the above description, it is to be noted that the beater 23 projects vthe hay entirely across the conveyor 68 and then this hay is free to slide downwardly along the wall I4, including its inclined portion 66, to fall upon the conveyor 6,8. Throughout the path of travel of the cut hay from the sickle 56 along scoop 42 into the beater 32 and finally upon the conveyor 68, there is no possible opportunity for congestion and throwback to `occur since each individual 4 f handling of the hay is separate and independent from the handling thereof in the immediately preceding steps. The harvesting operation is accomplished through the steps just dened without the necessity of manual handling of the hay and the entire operation may take place in aminimum of time and a great saving of expense. While only one modification of the harvester has been illustrated and described, it is understood that many changes and modifications may invention or scope of the appended claims.

vHaving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. In a crop pick-up and crop handling implement, a spiked crop gathering drum mounted for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis means for receiving and directing the crop gatheredby the drum toward a point spaced laterally from the latter; a rotatable reel within the path of travel of said directed crop formed to receive the crop and project the same in a substantially horizontal path away from the drum; a backstop for the crop emanating from the reel; and a conveyor disposed Within the path of travel of said crop as the same falls from the backstop by force of gravity for moving the crop away from the backstop.

2. In a crop pick-up and crop handling implement, a spiked crop gathering drum mounted for rotation. on a substantially horizontal axis; a rotatable reel disposed upwardly and rearwardly from said drum with its axis of rotation substantially parallel with said axis of rotation of the drum; a vertical wall spaced rearwardly from the reel; a conveyor at the lowermost edge of the wall below th'e'rcel and between the reel and wall; and a scoop underlying the drum for directing the crop gathered by said drum toward the reel, said reel rotating in a direction to project the crop received thereby toward the wall across the conveyor, whereby the crop falls by gravity from the wall to the conveyor.

3. In a crop pick-up and crop handling implement, a spiked crop gathering drum mounted for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis; a rotatable reel disposed upwardly and rearwardly from said drum with its axis of rotation substantially parallel with said axis of rotation of the drum; a vertical wall spaced rearwardly from the reel; a conveyor at the lowermost edge of the wall below the reel and between the reel and wall; and a scoop underlying the drum for directing the crop gathered by said drum toward the reel, said reel rotating in a direction to project the crop received thereby toward the Wall across the conveyor, said conveyor being spaced below the path of travel of said crop toward the wall, whereby said crop reaches the conveyor, only after falling from the wall by force of gravity.

ELMEIR C. SMALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Innes` -Sept. 17, 1940 

